Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Bordering on

Mondays are sit-and-sew days at Cinnamon's Quilt Shop. A fun time to get together with others of the fabrick-junkie persuasion.  I was able to get 6 more Scrapolator border blocks done.


It's really interesting to view pieces thru the camera's eye: the small pieces of white with black look lost - almost like there's a hole in the block. But there will be a lot of black in the sashing, so I think these will work fine in the full border.  I still have 28 more of these babies to go (and the 15 more "inside" blocks), so it'll be awhile before I'll know if I need to make a few spares.

I'm already starting to think of how to take a pic of the top once it's together because it's HUGE! Something like 91" x 108". That certainly won't fit on my design wall! Could be an "outside" pic - on the grass.

I know we just finished Christmas, but I also just found this cute little tree

 - made from more scraps. Here's the link to my pin on Pinterest. I see some of these in my future.

Don't forget - you can follow me on Pinterest by clicking on the link on the right nav list. You can follow my blog by clicking "join this site" or by using the "follow by email" button. And you can leave comments here on the blog by clicking on "Post a Comment" (or "No Comments")  (bloggers love comments!) below.  Please let me know if you have trouble with any of those buttons.

Off to see what the sewing muse will surprise me with today.

Thanks for stopping by.

Monday, January 7, 2013

And still more blocks

Another day of strip sets, triangles, and ultimately Scrapolator blocks. Gosh they are such fun to make! Here's the latest batch:

Here's the close-up, featuring another Flamingo:

(Hello, everybodeeeeeeeeeeee)

This brings the total to 66 blocks, which means I only have 15 more to go for the first true-scrappy top. Of course, there are those border blocks to go yet .... But who knew these would get done as quickly as they did? I'll be ready to put together the "inside" soon.

Tomorrow I'll have a "finish" to post. I didn't get many finishes in 2012 but there are many things SO CLOSE that 2013 should be a very productive year. Of course, there will be 3 trips to California this year (only one driving, though), an anticipated trip to Hawaii (which will be part of my 3rd trip to CA), and hopefully another trip to Europe. I'll be away a total of about 4 months over the course of this year. That will elbow out some of the anticipated "finishes", I'm sure. Oh well. I'm doing it (traveling) while I can!

Off to the sewing machine! There are quilts to be made!

Thanks for stopping by.

Sunday, January 6, 2013

The First of the Border Blocks

I'm not finished doing all the Scrapolator blocks yet, but was getting antsy to see what the border blocks would be like. They're pieced on a foundation ....


... then trimmed.


They go surprisingly fast, and finally I have scraps small enough to throw away AND I'm making a dent in the scrap pile.

Boy this has been, and is, really fun! I will do more from this book, for sure.

Thanks for stopping by.

Saturday, January 5, 2013

So late! More scrapolator blocks

Gosh, I'm really late with my blogpost for Friday, so this will be brief.

I finished 10 more scrapolator blocks. I added a close-up because I think the funky flamingo head at the center is so funny!
These blocks are so much fun to make, and are certainly (finally) making a dent in my stash. It's almost time to start working on the border blocks. Soon, soon.

That's it for today: I need to go do something I can post for Saturday (today). I'll have to cook again tomorrow - finally finished all the yummy leftovers. I love to cook, but also like to cook once then eat multiple days. I suspect more OMG Applesauce will be on the menu as long as apples are in season.

Thanks for stopping by.

Friday, January 4, 2013

Mug Rugs, a top, and an inside

I think all quilters have scrap baskets, and now maybe more of you have Parts Departments, but do you have a Bits Bin? That's where I toss left-over blocks, remains from strip sets, etc. That's also where I went to play yesterday.

First I finished the "inside" of the 5 &10:


It still needs a border, but the inside is together.

I've also finished the Safari top:
This is another done in the stack & cut method by Karla Alexander. I like the way this came out & will have to get a better pic soon.

Then I jumped into the Bits Bin and cute little mug rugs starting taking shape. They're all about 8"x11" - notebook paper size, just about. (More proof here that black-and-white is this quilter's favorite solution!) Everything came out of the Bits Bin.

I had leftover blocks from a color study, so I used one and part of a left over 7 1/2" strip set for this one.
 I had half-square triangles from YEARS ago (Lynn Provencher, do you remember that quilt?) and remains of strip sets from another quilt, so those bits became the second mug rug. As for the green, a little pop of (surprising) color is good for the soul.
 See the 2 little strips of quarter-square triangle units, below? They were made from remains from making larger pieces using connector corners. They are 1" finished, and were perfect as the focal point for a mug rug. I grabbed a little B&W, and another 7 1/2" strip set, and voila - two more done. 

One really fun thing about these is that they're nice and small and give you (me) a nice size to practice machine quilting. There's never enough practice! And always something new to try. Speaking of that, are you familiar with the Free Motion Project blog? Here's the link. GREAT ideas!

Anytime I see interesting quilting, I'll add it to my Pinterest board. Most of it is on my "quilting" board (link to Pinterest over on the right nav bar, for those that aren't Pinterest junkies yet), but one of these days I'll clean up my boards & "machine quilting" will become it's own board. Till then, I have way too much fun just scrolling through all the luscious pics. So many quilts. So little time.

I'm still thinking about what it means to "live completely". I think part of it includes doing those things I don't want to do. Darn the luck.

So that was yesterday. It's late so I better get started on something to post for today! I don't have to cook - still eating leftovers from the cook-a-thon on Wednesday. That applesauce is STILL delicious!

Thanks for stopping by.

Thursday, January 3, 2013

A Busy Day - just not at the machine

Oodles got done today, but not interesting stuff. Just routine stuff that needs to be taken care of.

I did a lot of cooking, though. I made some more OMG applesauce (it's unbelievably good; be sure to use really tasty honey), and a new recipe for bleu cheese cole slaw. Tres yum! I made other stuff, but those are the interesting ones.

I got a few more rows done on the scarf, and as for sewing - just a few more 16-patches:
They're now bundled up with other Parts.

No telling what mood may hit me today! Thanks for stopping by.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

A Leisurely Start to the New Year

I did manage to sew on the first day of the year. I didn't do much, though.


I finished the rest of the already-started wonky stars in the Parts Department box, and sewed the rest of the strips into stripsets. Today I'll chop them up and make more 16-patches for Parts, as well. After that? Anyone's guess!

My phrase for the year is "live completely". I'm not quite sure what that means, so I'm thinking about it a lot while I walk. It'll be interesting to see what I discover.

Much happy quilting to you in 2013. Thanks for stopping by.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Parts is Parts

In the spring of 2010, just a few months after I retired, I took my first driving trip across the country. The purpose was to attend 3 weeks of classes at Empty Spools Seminars at the very beautiful Asilomar State Beach (in Pacific Grove, California). One of those classes was with Freddy Moran and Gwen Marston. If you ever get the chance to learn with either or both of these ladies, do whatever you must to do so; they're wonderful! (Also treat yourself to a class at Empty Spools: the location alone is worth it!)

Freddy and Gwen encouraged us to start our own Parts Department, where we make small pieces when the mood strikes us and keep them corralled until they're needed in a quilt. No specific quilt has to be in your mind: just the urge to sew and no idea what you're in the mood to work on. Make Parts. Yesterday was one of those days.

I unburied my Parts Department project bin, got out the Parts parts (hey, even Parts need parts!) and played.
The Parts Department discoveries. Yummy.

First I took a bunch of the strips (1 1/2") and made strip sets

Then I whacked these babies up into more 1 1/2" strips

Then sewed them all back together again into 16-patches
Aren't they cute? 18 of them (4", finished)

OK, those parts have now become Parts and are ready whenever inspiration hits. On to star parts.

I had already sewn on the wonky points, so I had all the star points made; just needed to put all the stars together.

OK, so ALL the stars didn't get put together. I was getting tired. These stars measure 4 1/2" (finished). Into the Parts to join their brethren (and sis-tren). Maybe I'll sew the rest of the star-parts today, or maybe not. That's what the Parts Department is all about!

Happy New Year to you and yours. I hope it's a great year! No goals or resolutions for me this year - I plan simply to enjoy each day to the fullest.

Thanks for stopping by!